KIRKUS REVIEW

Gordon (In the Shadow of the Cape,
2004) documents century-old woolsheds of New Zealand’s Hawkes Bay in this
photography book.

This is an earnest work for readers interested
in the particular beauty of a cultivated landscape. The area on the eastern
coast of the North Island of New Zealand is known today for its wine, food, and
pleasant weather, but in the previous century, the wealth of Hawkes Bay was
built on sheep’s wool. Gordon offers an in-depth look at the physical monuments
of that era: the farms where flocks were raised and especially the woolsheds
where fleece was stored. Each of the sheds pictured here is at least 100 years
old. It’s primarily for their charm and bygone craftsmanship
that Gordon sought them out and included them in this work, and he celebrates
their architecture and aesthetics more than their function. He photographed the
sheds over the course of a journey of thousands of miles, and in an
introduction, he describes the trek as doing “what I love best, noseying around
a part of the world which goes mostly un-noticed these days, but which, as far
as I am concerned, is one of the most beautiful places in the world.” In simple,
informative prose, Gordon introduces each property, giving a bit of commentary
on its owners and history. The choice of material may seem dry, even by the
standards of a coffee-table photography book, but these curious, barnlike sheds
will grow on readers as they observe page after page of them. There’s something
about the way they sit, weathered and demure against the fairy-tale New Zealand
landscape—and the guileless way that Gordon shoots them—that’s inherently
calming. By the end, even readers who’ve never thought about the New Zealand wool
industry before will consider themselves not only woolshed fans, but
connoisseurs.

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